Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-03-03
PARIS AS A SEAPORT.

Plan of tho Proposed Ship Canal from
Rouen to Saint Denis.
A vigorous effort seems about to be
made to convert Paris into a seaport,
by means of ship canal extending
from Rouen, the present head OF navi-
cation on the Seine, to St. Denis, the
manufacturing suburb of Paris. 1t
will be remembered that Paris is al
ready, with perhaps the exception OF
Buffalo or Chicago. the most important
centre of inland navigation in the
world, and the Parisians, who see con-
stantly before them the spectacle of
London, with its forests of ships,
forty miles from the sea. have for
many years desired to find means for
uniting waterway to the sea,
comparable with that which Lon
don enjoys, with the network of inland
canals which it alone possesses. 1t
is likely to be long time before an az
tifical Thames extends from Paris to
the channel, but in the meanwhile
good canal will be much better than
nothing, and this can, if the French
Government grants the concession de-
sired. be built at once at the expense OF
n private company, which has adopted
5he plan prepared by M. Bouquet de la
Grye, and is ready to construct the
canal without cost to the public treas
ury, asking in return only the right, for
ninety-nine years, to collect a toll not
exceeding three francs per ton, on all
vessels passing through the canal to
or from Paris, together with the privi-
lege of cultivating or renting the por-
tons of the bed of the river laid dry by
its construction.
The canal which the company pro-
poses to build will follow in general
the bed of the river from Saint Denis
to Rouen, but the channel will be
Strengthened and regulated by artificial
banks, and two of the long bends
of the river, at Pont de rArche and
Sartrouville, will be cut off by straight
ditch across the chord of the arc formed
by the present channel. There will be
three locks, and perhaps fourth, but
the canal will be so wide and deep that
vessels can pass through it quickly, and
the time occupied in the passage from
the sea to Paris will not usually exceed
twenty-four hours. The proposed
depth is six metres, or about 194 feet,
which will be sufficient for vessels. of
1000 or 2, 500 tons, and the width, will
be ia feet in the straight parts, and
LAG feet at the curves, so that ships:can
meet and pass at any point. Although
twenty-six existing highway bridges
will have to be altered over into draw
bridges, it is remarkable that no i'm.
portant railway is intercepted by the
canal, and by changing slightly the
course of the present line from Paris to,
Havre, it will be possible to avoid in
terrupting any important railway
route.
According to the Commandant Cug-
min, who writes an interesting descrip-
ton of the scheme to La Sematne des
CONSTRUCTORS, the cost of constructing
the canal will be about S22, 900, 600! and
it can be finished in three years. With
the rate of tolls proposed. the cost of
carrying merchandise to Paris in the
same vessels that have already brought
it to Rouen will not exceed ninety-six
cents per ton, while the cost of tran
shipping it to, lighters at Rouen and
conveying to Paris, under the present
system, is about $1.83 per ton. BY
means of this great saving it is hoped
that Paris, as a point of embarkation
for goods exported from Switzerland
and Eastern France. will be able to
compete with Antwerp, which is rap
idly securing a large part of the mari
time business. of the continent. Amer
acG7a Architect